Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Okay guys, this one is going to be pretty important. A lot of changes will be happening with the new year as I want to fix a lot of things to make the reading experience more stable for my readers. I'll be returning to scheduled releases once again (assuming nothing prevents me from doing so), but the overall chapter length is going to be pulled back.I was originally writing 2k word chapters but, as a result of trying to fit more story into each chapter, I'm averaging around 3.3-3.5k these days. This makes each chapter a bit of a chore so I'm hoping I can increase the overall amount by reducing the average length once again. With this change, I'll be able to write up to five chapters per day so things should be picking up a fair amount.Now, before I press my nose to the grindstone once again, I need to make good on a promise I made previously. With this in mind, I'll be using today to try and finish up Fenrir's Journey so there will be a mass release of sorts until it has finally been brought to an end. I'm hoping to finish it all today but, depending on my family's plans, I may end up leaving in the afternoon to go celebrate the new year with them. If this happens, I'll finish up FJ tomorrow and then officially start the new schedule the following day.Last but not least, I'll only be releasing these updates if something major happens in the future so, if you want all the important news as it happens, please consider joining the Discord. This will enable you to know when each chapter comes out immediately after its posted and, if anything happens to me, I always try to let the people on the server know.Well, that's about it for this end of the year update. Thanks for reading my novels! Without the help of some of you amazing people, I would not be able to do this. While it doesn't exactly pay well, I'm quite fond of writing so I'd like to turn it into my career at some point. This has been important for helping me build a foundation as an author so I appreciate the opportunity I have been given. Thank you all.Sincerely,Ein's Left Foot

With the fall of one of the Three Monarchal families, the Mage's Association had gone through a tumultuous phase. Several smaller factions ended up banding together to form a united front while those that had been biding their time and consolidating power quickly assimilated the Barthomeloi family's assets into their own. This had led to several small scale conflicts but, fearing what would happen if they stood out too much, even the Trambelio and Valualeta families didn't stick out their necks too far.Without a leader, the Noble Faction had experienced a significant loss in influence within the Clock Tower but, after a series of political maneuvers, the Sophia-Ri family had managed to pull them back together. Still, the Noble Faction was a shadow of its former self and, with the other two Monarchal Lords turning a deaf ear to their plight, they were forced to become a far more moderate party.Fortunately, the majority of students and families associated with the Clock Tower were not Nobles so, while one faction struggled, the other two had seized power for themselves. Though these two factions, the Neutral and Democratic, were actually backed by two remaining Monarchal Lords, it was still a marked improvement in the minds of many. This was especially so for the commoners that had been attending the Clock Tower as, without the Noble Faction suppressing them, they had a lot of freedom compared to the past.Despite this newfound freedom, not every student was content and, believing they would have the opportunity to flee to the emergent Empire in the future, they abstained from joining any of the current factions. This earned them a fair amount of ridicule by fellow students and staff alike but, with Waver reinstated as a teacher, albeit without his title of Lord, this fourth faction had already grown to accommodate nearly three hundred members.Waver, the former Lord El-Melloi II, had made a full recovery after Vahn's treatment. The Edelfelt family had also managed to track down the freelance Magus that had cursed him and, with the fall of the Barthomeloi family, he wasn't in any real danger. Rather, due to his presumed association with the Empire, his status within the Clock Tower had grown a considerable amount, even exceeding his highest point as a Lord.The biggest factor behind Waver's current popularity was that, despite not being a Lord, he was still the Department Head of the Faculty of Modern Magecraft Theory. He also had powerful connections amongst other Department Heads, including Marisbury Animusphere, Rocco Belfeban, and, after the death of Barthomeloi Lorelei, the new Head of the Faculty of Policies, Gordolf Musik.Lord Musik had cut ties with the Noble Faction almost immediately after the duel between Artoria and Lorelei, an action that had placed his family into a difficult position. However, with the support of the Edelfelt family, and their now faux-immortal Homunculi, they had managed to tide through the backlash. His biggest challenge had been contending against Hishiri Adashino, one of the Chief Executives in the Faculty of Policies, but she had eventually been restrained by her family after a very brief conflict.Now, the Faculty of Modern Magecraft Theory was the heart of a budding faction and, while tensions were steadily building, they had been able to avoid any serious altercations. After all, nobody wanted to be the first to stick their head out when the ambitions of the Empire were still unknown. They had all adopted a 'wait and see' approach to the situation, believing it wouldn't be long before Vahn and his Empire entered the scene once again.---A stark contrast to what others might expect from the 'terrifying and domineering Emperor', Vahn currently found himself in a rather compromising position. This was due to the fact that, after she had secured victory in both Leagues, Scáthach had made a difficult request of him. As a result, he found himself dragging a 20m tall statue made of pure gold behind him, his own [Enkidu] binding his body to seal the majority of his powers.Scáthach's request was to allow her to give him a series of challenges, each designed to allow him to break through his limits. Her ultimate 'wish' was for him to make good on his promise and, while she still had the intention of teaching him, Scáthach had now given him a ten-year limit to exceed her. If he failed to do so, Vahn would be required to grant her the death she sought while, in the event he succeeded, she demanded a child in exchange for forcing her to continue living...Vahn had a lot of mixed feelings regarding Scáthach's request but, as he believed ten years was more than enough time, he ultimately accepted her terms. Now, after completing his first challenge, which required him to survive having a hundred spears stabbed into his body, he was undertaking Scáthach's second test. In total, there were supposed to be twelve challenges and, much like the labor's of Heracles, she promised he would be exponentially stronger if he managed to survive all twelve of them...Despite the sealing effects of [Enkidu], Vahn had noticed a long time ago that his powers were not fully restricted by the resplendent golden chains. After all, his Source Energy was a form of energy that transcended the Tier system so, while [Enkidu] could even seal gods and temporarily bind Tier 5 entities, it could never completely restrict his power.Scáthach was aware of this as well so, as part of his second challenge, Vahn had been required to bind himself in Enkidu as he dragged behind a statue weighing nearly 1,000,000kg over a course of 100km. This was far more than he could lift even in his unsealed state so, if not for the fact that the bottom of the statue and the top of the ground were extremely smooth, he would be completely helpless.Still, each step Vahn took felt like moving a literal mountain and, with even his [Magia Erebea] state sealed, sweat poured from his brow with each step. This was his fourth day of pulling the massive statue of Scáthach and, though it was a distance he could normally cover in an instant, Vahn had only made it thirty-seven kilometers. Though he hadn't been spending all his time pulling the statue, as there were other matters that required his attention, it was still an arduous and painful process.The most frustrating part of the experience, at least in Vahn's opinion, was that the goal seemed so tantalizingly close. He could see the guidepost in the distance at all times but, no matter how much effort he put into pulling the massive statue, it never seemed to get any closer. He even suspected that Scáthach had placed some kind of enchantment on the statue but, as she wasn't the type to use such underhanded methods, he continued forward at a snail's pace until he reached the 40km mark and called it a day.After having Okita undo the lock preventing him from removing [Enkidu], Vahn's body began to emit a large volume of steam, almost as if a pipe had burst. Then, after a few seconds, the steam began to retract like an implosion, forcing its way back into his body as his muscles regenerated completely.Despite the fact he didn't have any sweat on his body, Vahn allowed Gareth to wipe his body with a chilled towel, something he always found very refreshing. She also seemed to enjoy it quite a bit so, as thanks for them accompanying him during the mind-numbing challenge, he didn't mind giving her a few benefits.Once his body had dried off, Vahn ruffled Gareth's hair affectionately as he said, "Let us return. I'll have you wash my back and then we can all go grab a bite to eat."Gareth immediately perked up when she heard Vahn's words, an excited smile spreading across her face as she exclaimed, "Yes, Master~!" in a chipper tune. She actually enjoyed bathing with him quite a bit and, as her hands were inordinately soft, Vahn was also quite fond of her care.---While Vahn had made sure to prevent the advent of communal bathing within the castle, this didn't prevent him from enjoying the company of others. There was a large circular bath installed in the Menagerie that could easily fit upwards of ten people so, whenever he wanted to relax and enjoy a nice soak, Vahn had developed a habit of stopping by. Since this was also an opportunity for him to spend time with the girls inhabiting the Menagerie, he usually stopped by at least once a cycle.At this point, the number of people residing in the Menagerie had increased from three to seven as Gareth, Medea, Okita, and Hati had now taken up residence within. Since Gareth and Hati had the traits of animals, they had quickly been 'scouted' by the trio living within but, due to her desire to stay with her Aunt, Medea had also moved into an attached room. She shared this space with Penelo and, while she was a very bashful girl, there were times when even Medea would join them all in the bath. As for Okita, it was simply the most convenient place for her to stay as, while she did not really care about other people, the members of the Menagerie were easier to associate with than the other residents of the castle.This time around, Circe, Medusa, and Medea happened to be absent from the Menagerie and, after a cursory scan, Vahn found them accompanying Iris in the Library. Circe had Penelo with her as well so Vahn enjoyed the bath with Gareth, Okita, and Hati. The latter usually spent most of her time inside the Menagerie so, every time Vahn stopped by, he found her lounging about lazily in nothing but her panties and one of his stolen shirts.Despite having the ability to form clothes using a [REquip] system, Vahn knew that there were quite a number of girls in the castle who liked to steal his laundry. In fact, when he had tried to change to using the [REquip] system exclusively, they had even sent Artoria as a spokesperson to confront him on the matter. The strangest part of this was that he didn't even produce a discernible scent as, with his [Magia Erbea] constitution, his sweat itself returned to his body...Figuring it was just a quirk that some girls developed towards the person they liked, Vahn decided to let the matter lay since it ultimately didn't matter. He actually liked to see the girls wear his clothing and, in order to make the most of it, started wearing button-up or form-fitting clothing. Thus, when he arrived in the Menagerie to relax for a bit, Vahn found Hati wearing black lace panties and a dark grey button-up shirt with all of the buttons undone. This allowed her tight abdominal muscles to be visible which, when combined with her mature figure, gave her a considerable amount of sex appeal, something she was very aware of.---While Vahn was enjoying his moment of relaxation, Circe's pointed ears had perked up slightly as a small frown marred her otherwise flawless face. This was immediately noticed by Iris who, by now, had a very good understanding of the Demigoddess' mentality.Never missing the opportunity to tease someone, Iris had her usual smile as she mused, "If you like, I can watch over Penelo for you. She is a well-behaved child so I don't mind at all~"With Iris' words, Medea and Medusa also picked up on what was going on, causing the latter to hop up from her spot while the former had a deep hue of red spread across her cheeks.Medusa was not going to miss out on spending time with her Master so, with her laughter echoing through the corridors, she quickly alighted from the Library. This caused Circe to snort through her nose as she muttered in a subdued voice, "Traitor...!"Despite her apparent frustration, Circe already had an excuse for her own departure so, while she was more than a little annoyed by the fact Iris was teasing her, she gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead before passing her over to the pale-haired woman. Afterward, she turned to Medea, her ire tempered for a brief moment as she asked, "Will you join us...?"Though she would sometimes agree when they were all together in the Menagerie, Medea quickly shook her head this time around before burying her face into her hands and saying, "I don't think that is a good idea..." in a sheepish tone of voice. This caused Circe to roll her eyes slightly as, while others may be fooled by Medea's behavior, she knew her niece better than anyone. Still, she wasn't going to force the issue as it was still a little early to start pushing her to take more decisive action...With nothing to say on the matter, Circe just gave a small nod before gesturing toward Iris with her eyes. Iris understood her intentions well so she just shooed Circe away with a knowing smile on her face. In truth, she was also interested in joining in on the fun but, until her daughter made progress in her own relationship, the most she could do was tease Vahn and the others a bit.Thinking about her daughter, Iris rose to her own feet, catching Medea's attention before she asked, "Will you accompany me to check on my daughter? I'm certain she will appreciate the company. I'd like the two of you to be friends in the future so it would make me happy if you spent some time with her~"As it was a good opportunity to clear her own head, Medea agreed to Iris' request with a demure smile and a small nod. This actually wasn't the first time she had been asked to visit Illya and, as she found Alchemy quite interesting, Medea had no problem stopping by. She also found Illya to be very cute so, while it was a little unnerving to see the girl floating naked in a vat of green fluid, it was also a little exciting...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Nobody wants to fuck with the Empire xD...','Scáthach is brutal','Vahn is living the dream (x _ x)...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

Having built up various small grievances over the last few months, Semiramis was looking forward to the chance to vent some of her pent-up frustrations. She was actually considerably weaker than any of the other Caster Class Servants as, unlike them, she was, in fact, an Assassin Class Servant. If not for her Unique Skill, [Double Summon], allowing her to fulfill both roles, she wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight outside her Garden of Babylon.Hailing from the Age of the Gods, Semiramis had an advanced understanding of several forms of ancient Thaumaturgy. As 'History's oldest poisoner', combined with her status as a Demigoddess, she could cast a variety of chantless Magecraft, many of which could penetrate through magical barriers and poison her opponents. While she was significantly weaker outside of her territory, she would still qualify as a Grand Magus, the highest obtainable rank within the Mage's Association...A stark contrast to Semiramis, though they both had impossibly long hair, Medusa was still a rather young existence who had much to learn. She primarily relied on her Innates and the abilities she had obtained from being named, meaning she predominately used potent poisons to battle against her opponents. This, combined with her inordinately fast speed, granting her a base Agility of 37B, made her a force to be reckoned with if you were unfamiliar with her capabilities.Due to rarely leaving her own residence, Semiramis wasn't too familiar with those that made the Inner Sanctum, a place she was denied access to, their home. While she had made an effort to try and collect information on them, it didn't take long for a series of golems and a team of Homunculi to quickly turn her away. Thus, while she had heard about Medusa, this was the first time Semiramis was actually meeting Vahn's 'pet Gorgon'...After entering the battlefield, both girls stared at each other and, despite being separated by several kilometers, they were still able to maintain eye contact. This was an inherently foolish decision by the raven-haired Semiramis but, having supreme confidence in her ability to resist such effects, she did not fear Medusa's petrifying gaze. She wanted to prove to everyone that she wasn't afraid so, when the battle finally began, she ascended into the sky with arms spread wide as the feathers around her collar began to peel away, each taking the form of a dark-grey dove.Medusa saw the veritable wall of birds heading her way but, instead of trying to flee, she crouched low to the ground in a very peculiar stance. In truth, she still wasn't all that accustomed to walking on two legs so, rather than force herself, the lower half of her body transformed into a long, snake-like tail. She had beautiful golden scales and a peculiar white pattern that ran along the backside while, on the front, a smooth, honey-white surface allowed her to easily glide along the ground with extreme speed.Most of the audience was surprised to see Medusa's transformation but, when they saw what she did next, a stunned silence spread over the entire crowd. This was because, after leaping into the sky, using her tail like a spring, Medusa's pale-golden eyes turned a silvery-white as a pulse of invisible energy radiated out from her body. Any dove within range was immediately turned to stone, despite the fact they were formed of Magical Energy and not true biological life forms.After clearing the initial blockade, Medusa's hair flared out wildly while, from beneath her silvery locks, three pairs of angel-like wings sprouted out, drastically increasing her speed. This was enough to finally get Semiramis to panic as she had not expected Medusa to try and close the distance from the start of the battle. A purple magic circle appeared behind her that quickly collapsed backward to form a spatial gate of sorts as she sent a cloud of green and purple magical energy to obstruct the supersonic charge of Medusa.Once again, Medusa strained her eyes and, just as before, a pulse spread out that turned the mist produced by Semiramis into a pale-gray substance. She then passed through without any hesitation, dissipating the cloud of poisonous powder with a burst of magical energy as she tossed her spear toward the closing gate. This was, unfortunately, a futile attempt as, right before it pierced the gate, a scale-like membrane easily blocked the spear, repelling it backward with even more force than the initial throw.Medusa was easily able to evade the wayward spear but, as she looked around the battlefield, it was impossible to find Semiramis anywhere. She had simply vanished into thin air and, with her C+ Rank [Presence Concealment], Medusa was unable to sense her. This caused her to scrunch up her nose a bit as her tongue flicked out of her mouth in frustration, looking decidedly longer and more purple than a normal tongue...Semiramis was cursing her past self for looking down on her opponent but, more than that, she was annoyed that Noble Phantasms were disallowed from the competition. This affected her a lot more than others as, due to various restrictions placed on her, she could only use a fraction of her power outside of her own territory. If she had her Hanging Gardens of Babylon, she would be able to use several A and even EX-Rank magical spells in sequence, making short work of most opponents.Now, Semiramis was forced to squat down behind a pillar, an action made difficult by her massive volume of hair and ornate bell-frilled dress. If not for the fact she was invisible, she would be biting through her nails in frustration knowing that several thousand people had seen her in such a state...Without being able to sense Semiramis, Medusa began to feel increasingly annoyed so, while her Master had prevented her from using the most potent version of her poisons, she began to lightly flick her six wings. This caused a rainbow-hued powder to begin spreading through the area and, guided by her magical energy, a reactive mist that could target foreign magical energy began to spread across the battlefield.Semiramis was fully aware of what Medusa was attempting so, under her breath, she cursed, "This little brat is trying to compete with me in poisons..."Despite feeling a great deal of scorn towards Medusa, Semiramis elected not to look down on her opponent as only the truly arrogant underestimated the potency of poisons. She knew better than most how effective they could be so, while she did not believe Medusa had even a fraction of her capabilities, there was a chance she had a unique poison that no amount of magical resistance could protect against.Though it was almost impossible to discern due to her clothing, smooth black scales began to sprout all over Semiramis' body. Rather than the scales of a snake, however, they were extremely smooth and compact, much like a fish. This was due to the fact that Semiramis' mother, Derketo, was a Syrian mermaid Goddess. While Semiramis disdained her mother a great deal, she was never shy when it came to exploiting her heritage and its many benefits...After scales covered much of her body, leaving only her breasts, neck, and face exposed, Semiramis placed her palm against the ground. This caused a malicious black ooze to form a magic circle that ate into the stone like a potent acid. Once this had been completed, she made use of her [Presence Concealment] to move undetected around the area, placing several other magic circles at various locations around the battlefield. These were each powerful curses that, upon contact with foreign magical energy, would trace the source and inflict them with various malignancies.Unfortunately for Medusa, she was simply too inexperienced and, while her education had been going well, she didn't treat it as seriously as she should. Thus, when faced against someone that had a considerable amount of experience, both in subterfuge and actual war, it was only a matter of time before she ended up getting baited into a trap.Despite never dropping her guard, it wasn't long before Medusa's poisonous mist came into contact with one of Semiramis' curses. Much to the latter's surprise, however, her curse was devoured by the energy in Medusa's poison. Thus, rather than take the petite gorgon out of the battle, she only left the silver-haired girl with a mild headache as the poisonous mist was released from the control of her magical energy.Though she knew Semiramis likely wasn't in the area where her mist had penetrated, Medusa made another golden spear before tossing it down like a bolt of lightning. She was beginning to feel very annoyed and, though she could keep going for several hours without too many issues, Medusa wasn't actually that fond of fighting. Her preferred method of combat was to surprise her enemies and end the battle in an instant. She hated being on the receiving end of the same treatment so, as her opponent continued to skulk about, she was contemplating just giving up.Deciding it was better to go out in a bang than simply surrender, Medusa's hair began to darken on the tips, gaining a purple luster. After a few seconds, her hair had formed into several large snakes, each having very realistic features that included reflective eyes and flickering scarlet tongues.Using what remained of her surprisingly large pool of mana, the throats of Medusa's snakes would glow, illuminating the gaps between their scales, before they spat out balls of radiant purple energy. When these projectiles hit the ground, they erupted into massive explosions that could easily level large buildings. If going by the usual ranking system, each projectile would be around a B-Rank spell and, as a result of Medusa's inherent Poison Laws, they had a powerful corrosive quality to them as well.Since she was unable to sense Semiramis' location, Medusa just began indiscriminately bombarding the entire battlefield. She didn't really care if she hit anything but, after a few volleys, Medusa felt a bit of feedback from one of her projectiles. This caused her to veer around and, instead of balls of energy, the snakes formed from her hair began firing purple lasers that refracted off a dome-shaped magical barrier that revealed Semiramis grimacing on the other side.Having finally discovered her opponent's location, Medusa angled herself downward and began a dive-bomb towards the turtling Semiramis. Her snakes continued to focus their laser beams, leaving an expanding purple on the surface of the barrier that made it seem as though it would break at any moment. This, however, wasn't Medusa's intention so, once she was within a few dozen meters of the barrier, she stopped flicked her wings to evade backward as several black chains emerged from purple magic circles to try and entangle her body.Semiramis clicked her tongue when Medusa was able to evade her attack but, when the latter's eyes turned silvery-white, the raven-haired Magus couldn't help but smile. Just as the pulse of invisible energy spread from Medusa's body, Semiramis' barrier changed shape, forming a concave lens with a highly reflective surface. She had mistakenly believed that Medusa was another Heroic Spirit and, knowing about the legends associated with the monstrously powerful Gorgon, Semiramis was trying to use her own attack against her.Contrary to expectations, Medusa's energy pulse, despite being rebounded, had no effect other than causing her to float backward in surprise. When she realized what Semiramis had attempted, her cute face formed into a deep frown as a very long spear, nearly 5m in length, formed in her hands. Even the snakes in her hair seemed offended as they all began to simultaneously charge up, their throats expanding as intense purple light began to escape through the gaps of their mouth.Seeing that her counter had no effect, Semiramis' face had an even deeper frown than Medusa but, rather than give up, an inky black liquid began to pour out from the bottom of her dress. Before she was able to completely activate her skill, however, Scáthach appeared between them and stated in a cold tone, "The battle is over. Semiramis attempted to use her Noble Phantasm so the victory goes to Medusa."Medusa immediately ceased charging her own attack but Semiramis, feeling aggrieved, allowed the black liquid to continue expanding for a few moments. She only stopped when Scáthach turned to look directly at her, crimson electricity beginning to dance across her palms. This caused alarm bells to ring in Semiramis' mind, restoring her clarity and causing the black fluid to quickly dissolve into an inert state.Without missing a beat, Semiramis adopted a calm and elegant demeanor as she gave a polite bow toward Medusa and chimed, "Your performance was beyond my expectations. For a moment, I felt as if we were having a true life and death battle. Forgive my lack of decorum...it has been a long time since I faced off against such a mighty opponent..."With her words finished, Semiramis promptly exited the Training Orb. She no longer had a reason to stay and, while Scáthach was terrifying in her own right, it was the intense gaze of a Vahn that made her heart tense up. She was hoping that, by extricating herself and laying low for a while, he would forget about her momentary slip as it would make her life very difficult if she lost what little favor she had with him.Though Vahn didn't say anything outwardly, he sent a telepathic message to request that Scáthach observe Semiramis to make sure she didn't try anything while the majority of their forces were in the Training Orb. It was not impossible to destroy the orb itself and, while they would be able to safely move everyone outside before the collapse, it was better to be safe than sorry. Even if there was less than a one percent chance she would do something, Vahn never underestimated what women were capable of under duress...After the rather intense battle, there was a brief recess to clean the arena since there was still a large amount of malignant mist present. Fortunately, this was an opportunity for Spenta to show off and, as she was always eager to help, everyone was able to see her purification in full effect for the first time.All it took for Spent to purify the entire battlefield was for her to stand in the center for around ten minutes. This caused a peculiar energy, formed from green and gold light, to spread across the field. As it passed, a field of flowers blossomed over the desolate land and, when it came into contact with Medusa's and Semiramis' poisons, they were simply turned into a wispy yellow mist that caused a warm and pleasant floral smell to spread throughout the area.While this was quite the sight to behold, Vahn was troubled as Spenta's energy spread over the large statue that Medea had previously erected. It had escaped Medusa's bombardment and, for her own reasons, Semiramis had avoided trying to use it as cover. Thus, with Spenta's purifying energy having an overwhelming amount of Life Energy contained within, the previously white statue now looked like a giant formed from green shrubbery that was covered in flowers and vines...No matter what anyone said, Vahn was intending to destroy the statue in the near future, even if he had to make it look like an accident. For now, however, they still had a tournament to finish and, with the match between Medusa and Semiramis concluded, it was time for the second string of matches.So as not to keep the surprisingly patient crowd in suspense, Vahn pulled the first two names almost immediately after Spenta was escorted from the battlefield. When he saw what was listed, he rolled his eyes as, meeting his expectations, Da Vinci had indeed been paired with Medea. He even began to suspect that Da Vinci had made another vessel for herself, one with EX-Rank Luck as this was very clearly the result of causality itself being warped.As expected, Medea had no intention of harming anyone so, after a short discussion between her and Da Vinci, they put on another performance of sorts just so the crowd wouldn't be upset. Thus, without any suspense whatsoever, Da Vinci proceeded to the finals while Medea happily found a place for herself next to Circe in the viewing area. After this, the next match was between Rin and Scáthach so, as could be expected, the former quickly surrendered as the latter had already shown that she was willing to inflict considerable harm onto her opponents.Following the series of non-fights, the final round of the second set of matches was between Ishtar and Medusa. This, however, wasn't really a fight as Medusa had used up most of her magical energy in the battle against Semiramis. Thus, after a brief exchange of explosive attacks, Ishtar came out as the final victor by teleporting Medusa outside of the battlefield. She could have actually done this against Olga as well but, as she wanted to give the mortal woman a chance to test her limits, Ishtar had played around a bit...With the second string of matches completed, the third and final set was quickly conducted. As he had expected, Da Vinci, once again, got a free win as there were only three finalists. Since Scáthach and Ishtar had their names pulled, Da Vinci was just sitting patiently at the side with her massive magic staff, a perpetual smile on her beautiful face as she monitored the equipment that analyzed each battle...To the surprise of no one, the battle between Scáthach and Ishtar didn't last very long as the latter had several exploitable weaknesses while the former had none. The only real advantage Ishtar had was her mastery over Space but Scáthach, with EX-Rank [Magic Resistance], [God Slayer], and her [Wisdom of the Haunted Ground], this wasn't even close to being enough. She could effectively negate the effects of Ishtar's Divinity and, while the battle lasted longer than expected, Scáthach was slowly able to corner the haughty Goddess until she was forced to teleport from the battlefield itself.With Ishtar's defeat, the only match that remained was between Da Vinci and Scáthach but, much like he had expected, Da Vinci simply surrendered the battle outright, bringing the tournament to a rather anti-climactic end. It wasn't until after the reward ceremony that Vahn was able to confirm that, for the purposes of the Tournament, Da Vinci had indeed produced a body that had almost human-level parameters in exchange for Luck that defied quantifiable limits...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Medusa is surprisingly strong...?','Ishtar OP','Leave it to Da Vinci to find a way to get to the finals without having to lift a finger...')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/mn5xMbE

Chapter 1278: Final Yearly Update